LITTLE CURRENT—When Andrew Orr learned about the challenges being faced by the Coleman family, the owner of the Valumart franchise in Little Current set about doing something to help.
“We are hoping to make it an amazing Christmas for Sean and Danielle Coleman and help Sean recover from his battle with cancer,” said Mr. Orr.
Mr. Orr enlisted the aid of Kendra Edwards of Kendra Edwards Design to create a limited edition grocery bag. Design in hand, Mr. Orr commissioned 2,500 of the bags and those bags have now landed at the store in Little Current and are ready for distribution.
photo by Michael Erskine
“The bags will sell for $2 and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to helping Sean and Danielle Coleman recover from cancer,” said Mr. Orr.
“Sean was diagnosed December 2021 with acute lymphatic leukemia after a 10-year remission from multiple myeloma,” noted Ms. Coleman. “After intense chemo/radiation Sean left for Ottawa in the spring of 2022 for his second stem cell transplant.”
Treatment completed, Mr. Coleman headed back into the embrace of his loving family on September of that year. He wasn’t home long when Mr. Coleman began to feel fatigued and found he was having difficulty walking. Being that he had just returned from a long absence from home, Mr. Coleman was not looking forward to the hospital.
Sent to Sudbury, Mr. Coleman was informed that he had an internal shingles virus (varicella zoster) that was causing inflammation in his spine and encephalitis in his brain.
That diagnosis led to a stint in the intensive care unit from September to December 2022. Although he received “amazing care” from the staff in Sudbury and was discharged the following January 2023, a short time later he was Toronto-bound where he received rehabilitation for the spinal cord injuries. Thanks to those efforts, Mr. Coleman was able to return home in June 2023 and live at home independently.
Canada may have a national healthcare system, but there are plenty of expenses that remain uncovered when dealing with the kind of health challenges being experienced by the Coleman family.
“This will be the first Christmas Mr. Coleman will spend at home with his wife and two children since 2020,” said Mr. Orr as he and a group of Orr’s Valumart employees gathered for a promotional photograph for the bags at the front of the store. “It would be a great feeling to write them a cheque for $5,000 after all they have been through.”
The bags feature a silhouette of Manitoulin Island and are emblazoned with the appropriate slogan “Manitoulin Strong.” The bags are available for purchase for $2 at Orr’s Valumart in Little Current.
